My recently listened to artists on Spotify: The Smiths, New Order, Bob Marley, Harry Styles (don’t judge me) and The Wytches. This seems pretty standard, in fact I would say it sounds pretty bloody good- nothing beats a bit of Morrissey on a Monday night. The alarming problem which (along with many other music fans) I have failed to address until now, is the fact that very rarely will I ever choose to listen to female artists within my favourite genres. There’s no denying that whilst pop artists such as Katy Perry, T swift and Dua Lipa dominate the charts, there’s a massive lack of women being given airtime within alternative genres, but the question is why? There’s something that’s always been attractive about the dark and mysterious men who have dominated indie culture, with their incredibly personal and introspective songs that have had us sobbing over our record players for years. But when women, who are meant to be bright, colourful and cheery write something confessional the media immediately have a field day, declaring her strange, toxic and confused (see: Amy Winehouse.)
A few years ago I remember seeing a photoshopped version of the posters for Reading and Leeds on twitter with all the male bands/ artists removed. Out of the 57 band members declared in the initial announcement, just one of them was female (lead singer of American pop-rock band Against The Current). Event organisers have long defended the ridiculous disproportionality, saying that male bands sell out the venues better because they are ‘more popular’. Artists like Stevie Nicks, Joan Jett and Patti Smith are some of the best artists of all time so don’t tell me that women ‘aren’t as talented’ or ‘aren’t as popular’ as men. It seems to me that undiscovered female bands have to work twice as hard their male counterparts, and even when they are given attention its as ‘a brilliant all-female band.’ Can we please. Stop. Calling bands with women in. Female fronted. Being a woman is not a genre.
If we never give any of the massively talented female bands/ artists the platform to perform at festivals, how will they ever become better known in the first place? It’s a vicious circle, and one that’s been going on within the music industry for far too f*cking long. The case isn’t that there aren’t female vocalists and bands out there, it’s just that we’re ignoring them.
2017 really is shaping up to be the year of the girl, with Wolfe Alice and Haim going stronger than ever- and its about time we acknowledged it. We need to properly celebrate not only the female greats that have blessed us with some of the best music of the past few years, but the artists tirelessly working (twice as hard) to get their name known. And let’s get one thing clear- they’re not talented because they’re women, they’re talented within the genre by their own right, regardless of their sex. Here are just a few of my favourites:
Wolf Alice.
God bless Ellie Rowsell. Grab your glitter and throw it on your face in celebration, because this awesome lady has been a true trailblazer these past few years. After Ellie and guitarist Joff progressed their two piece acoustic act to a band after Joel and Theo joined the two founders, they toured with Peace in 2012, two years after their formation, before releasing their first single ‘leaving you’ in 2013. They’ve since released albums ‘My Love is Cool’ ‘Visions of Life’ and ‘Yuk foo’, as well as giving an absolutely incredible secret set at Leeds this year. If there’s one band which is going to finally break through and give us a long-awaited female withing a headliner at R and L, it’s them.
my favourite song: You’re a germ.
Haim
Consisting of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana, Haim is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles; having rejected the “girl band” label, Haim prefer to be respected as musicians on their individual merits. As well as supporting Mumford & Sons and Florence and the machine, Haim have toured extensively in their own right, as well as releasing their debut album in 2013-‘Days Are Gone’ and their newest album ‘Something To Tell You’ in 2017. They’ve been likened to Fleetwood Mac but shy away from this comparison, insisting that their music is influenced by more current artists; their style has been described by Metro as ’folk-rock with a few R&B/hip-hop stylings thrown in for good measure.’
My favourite song: The wire
Pale Waves
You know they’re going to be good when Matty Healey and George Daniel produce their first two singles. As well as touring with the 1975 and performing at Reading and Leeds this year, Pale Waves have also announced a big UK tour compromising of 13 dates, tickets for which went on sale in September. They’ve only released two singles but the Manchester quartet are undoubtedly destined for big things; their single ‘there’s a honey’ has a really nice relaxed and summery tone reminiscent of the shimmery and entrancing sounds of Swim Deep and Peace.
My favourite song: There’s a honey
- Lead Singer of Pale Waves Heather Baron-Gracie performing at the BBC introducing stage at Reading.
Alvvays
Alvvays’ singer-songwriter Molly Rankin is the daughter of John Morris Rankin, a fiddler with the Celtic folk family collective the Rankin Family, so it’s no surprise that the band often performs cover songs by Kirsty MacColl. But despite her Celtic background, Rankin acknowledges that the band’s sound is far from Celtic, instead describing it as ‘jangle pop’- you can certainly hear the influence of the 80s within their music. Their album ‘Antisocialites’ was released this year, and Rankin’s voice sounds so so good on it. Oh, and in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced ‘always’.
my favourite song: Adult diversion
Honeyblood
Born in Edinburgh and founded in Glasgow, Honeyblood blossomed into life 6 years ago in 2012. The duo consists of Stina Tweeddale (vocals and guitar) and Cat Myers (vocals and drums); Myers took over from Shona McVicar in 2014 after she left the band to pursue a different career. Honeyblood have supported many famous acts, including Foo Fighters and Palma Violets, as well as working with producer James Dring, who has previously worked with Jamie T and Gorillaz. After collaborating with him on their second album Babes Never Die, it was released on the 4th of November in the UK by their record label Fat Cat.Their second album seems more punk rock than their debut ‘Honeyblood’, with more aggression pulsing through the tracks, coupled with lyrics of nights out gone sour and complicated friendships. If you imagine Hinds’ low-fi sound, make it a bit more grunge-rock and then give them a hit of a Scottish accent, you can start to imagine what Honeyblood sound like (absolutely magnificent.)
My favourite song: (Id rather be) anywhere but here.
The Yorkshire Scribbler 